Sam #2
Blowing out a harsh breath, he leaned back in the booth. “He’s behind us one hundred percent, but his hands are tied. He can only look the other way so many times before things get pushed to a state level. Then he can’t do a damn thing to help.”
“It’s Montana. Aren’t you guys all about avenging your families and vigilante crap?”
He quirked an eyebrow at me. “We’re not superheroes.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to bring it up, not with all the other crap going on, but there were a few things that were bugging me. “Austin showed up at Cassidy’s house on Thanksgiving.”
His eyebrows shot up at the information. “Invited?”
“By her parents. She didn’t know until after the fact. He was pushy with her, and it got me wondering if…”
“If what?”
I checked to make sure no one else was close enough to hear anything. “He went after Bailey because she was with Liam.”
“Yeah,” he nodded.
“Cassidy was with Jeff in high school. From what I understand, she was dating Jeff when Clay had his accident.”
“You think he’s going after Cassidy?” Michael asked.
“Listen, if he’s really that pissed that he would go after Bailey, what puts anyone else off limits?”
He nodded slowly, thinking it over. “Mav wondered about the same thing.”
“With Cassidy?”
He shook his head, keeping his voice low. “About Ellie.”
“The—” Horror washed over me at the thought that anyone could be sick enough to attack a woman and have her raped just for revenge. “You think he’s the one who took Ellie?”
“No, but he could have hired someone. That fucker had a whole stalker board of her,” he hissed.
“That’s fucking personal. And Jeff said he didn’t recognize the guy.
Now, tell me how the fuck it’s possible that someone in town has a vendetta so bad for Ellie that they’d go to the extremes of not only ruining her Jeep, but then her shop?
Only someone who really wanted to fuck with her would do that shit, and then kidnap her. ”
My stomach sank at the thought of Austin being behind all that. If he was willing to go that far, what else would he do?
“But Ellie…how is she—”
“Liam,” he whispered. “Liam asked Ellie to help him make it look like he was cheating on Bailey.”
“So, he went after her because of a fake relationship with Liam?”
“Like I said, he fucking hates anyone in the family or associated with us.”
I did not like the sound of that, and with this new information, it made it even harder to make the move away from Cassidy. I just couldn’t walk away, not when I knew she could be in danger.
“We’re getting close. We know she was poisoned by stuff from Josie’s shop. If we can just get some video footage or fingerprints—”
“And in the meantime, you’ve royally fucked over Josie.”
“That wasn’t without its merits. As long as Austin assumes we think Josie was involved, he doesn’t know we suspect him.”
“That seems pretty fucking thin considering how twisted this guy is.”
“Maybe, but if it helps even a little, we’ll take it.”
I didn’t like it. I hated that Josie was thrown in the middle of all this, especially when she was innocent. But I hated even more how worried I was about Cassidy. I needed to get her out of my head, and none of this was helping.
“You seem way too stressed about this. Is something else going on?”
I didn’t want to admit it, but Parker might just be able to help me. “I need your help with something else, and I need you to keep it to yourself.”
“Uh-oh. Woman problems?” he grinned.
“It’s not about a woman,” I lied. Well, partially lied. “I can’t get back in the ring.”
“Your shoulder?” he asked, the grin sliding off his face.
I shook my head, hating to admit any of this to him. “It’s in my head. Deke brought in this fighter to train with me today, and the moment he stepped out…I don’t know. It was like…”
“Fear,” he finished for me.
I snorted in derision. “Fucking stupid, right?”
“Not when everything you’ve worked for is on the line.”
“My shoulder is fine. It’s better than I could ever have hoped for,” I admitted. “But I haven’t fought anyone since the night I injured it, and when I thought of getting back in the ring…I don’t know. I just felt this phantom pain in my shoulder.”
“Because you know what you could lose.”
“Yeah, well, I lose everything if I don’t take the chance.”
“Have you told Blake?”
“Not going to,” I said, taking a sip of my beer.
“Are you sure you want to be doing this? What if you fuck it up for good?”
“What if I don’t take the chance and never find out?” I argued.
Silence stretched across the table at my admission. “Listen, from what Blake told me, you’re a hell of a fighter.”
“Yeah, but try telling my head that. I thought I was gonna puke when that guy walked out, and I’ve never felt like that in my life. But that night just kept coming back to me, taunting me. I can’t tell Deke that.”
“Why?”
“Because…he’d lose his faith in me.”
He nodded in understanding. “Then you need to fight someone who can ease you back in.”
“Yeah,” I snickered. “Let’s find someone who has no problem fighting a head case.”
“You could always fight me.”
“Uh-huh,” I laughed at his mocking.
“I’m serious. I could train with you.”
“You’re not a boxer.”
“No, but you could teach me. I mean, I know how to fight. I just don’t have the technique down.”
It wasn’t a terrible idea. It would allow me to ease back into the ring without having to admit to Deke that I was losing my edge.
“Besides, it might take my mind off things,” he grumbled.
“It would have to be early,” I warned him. “Deke starts training at nine.”
“That’s fine. I have to be at work by seven. We could go a round at five.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“Absolutely.” Pulling out his phone, he sighed. “I have to get back to the ranch.”
“That was the quickest beer ever.”
As he stood, he tossed down a few bills. “Apparently, Ma is threatening Pop. This should be interesting.”
“Take pictures,” I called after him as he shot out of the restaurant.
Chuckling, I almost forgot about all my problems with Cassidy. That is, until she walked into Seafood & More with Alyssa and took a seat at the other end of the restaurant.
I had to get out of here before I walked over there and asked to join them. It was bad enough that I was spending every night at her house. But now, I was actually considering putting up cameras outside her house.
I’d lied to her the other night when I told her nothing was there.
Footprints were smashed into the light snow surrounding her house, and I had a pretty damn good feeling I already knew who they belonged to. I’d already told Maverick, hoping that it would help the investigation or that Maverick could do extra patrols.
Mav said he would do everything he could, but they just didn’t have a big enough department. That left it in my hands to ensure her safety. I had no problem being there for her. Aside from the fact that I had a feeling it would only make it harder to walk away from her when my career took off.
“Got your eye on something?” Jeff asked, striding over and taking the seat his brother had just vacated.
“Nope.”
A low chuckle left his lips as he slouched back in the seat. “Sure doesn’t look that way.”
“Everyone’s so fucking nosy in this town.”
“Which is why I walked over here to tell you that you’re doing a shitty job of hiding your intentions.”
“My intentions?”
“Yeah, like the fact that you want to storm over to that table, lay her out flat, and fuck her until she screams your name. Those kind of intentions.”
“I’m not that obvious,” I retorted.
“Sure. I just pulled that out of my ass. Why don’t you go over there and see if you can say hi without your eyes telling everyone in the restaurant that she belongs to you.”
“There’s no one else in the restaurant. That might be a problem for you,” I countered.
Winking, he leaned forward. “That’s because they don’t come here for the food.” He jerked his head at my woman. “So, you up for it?”
I knew I couldn’t do it. Not even if I tried really damn hard. I was hopelessly infatuated with that woman and her body, and sooner or later, everyone else in town would know as well.
I took a final pull of my beer and stood, tossing down some money, leaving a shitty tip just to piss him off. He deserved it for being right.
“I am not infatuated with that woman. I have no desire to bend her over the table. And if she walked up to me right now and hit on me, I’d spit in her face.”
A slow smirk spread across his face as his eyes flicked over my shoulder.
Fuck, she was standing right behind me. I knew it. I could feel her presence as if she was crawling up my body right fucking now.
“Well, here’s your opportunity,” Jeff leaned in and whispered.
Swallowing hard, I pulled the strength to tell her to fuck off from somewhere deep in my gut, but I knew the moment I turned around and saw those kissable lips that I would lose the battle I was warring with myself. Hell, I’d lay her out on the floor and fuck her for everyone to see.
And that was a major problem. I had a career to hold onto, and if I let her get the better of me, I’d never be back in the ring.
I had to do this. I had to get her out of my head once and for all. So, I turned on my heel, prepared to let those tormented words rip from my lips.
Except, she wasn’t there.
Jeff’s hand landed on my shoulder with a heavy thump as a low chuckle hit me like a smack upside the head.
“Sure. You don’t want her. The three minutes of absolute torture on your face said it all.”